


in the morning

by moosh



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Other, Pre-Iron Man 1, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 15:50:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15609699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moosh/pseuds/moosh
Summary: “Nothing happened?”“Nothing. I promise.”“If nothing happened, then why were my clothes all over the place?”“You said you were hot.”





	in the morning

**Author's Note:**

> All right, y'all. Check the tags and warnings.

“Oh god.” Pepper moaned as she opened her eyes. Her head was pounding and she felt a bit dizzy, even though she was laying perfectly still.

Tequila. There had been a lot of tequila. She and Tony had gone out for dinner with a few execs from the London office the night before.

“Oh shit.” Pepper whispered, as she lifted her head and figured out where she was. In Tony’s room. In Tony’s bed. In Tony’s Ozzfest ’97 t-shirt. In _only_ Tony’s Ozzfest ’97 t-shirt.

What the fuck?

The last thing that she remembered was sitting in the back of the car with Tony, clutching onto a bottle she’d taken from the restaurant.

She sat up cautiously on the edge of the bed, but then leaned forward with a groan and clutched her head. The room was spinning and she felt like she was going to throw up. Her bra was crumpled at her feet. Glancing up she saw her underwear, her skirt, Tony’s tie, her blouse, his jacket.

She stood up and bolted to the bathroom.

After throwing up more than she thought was even remotely possible for a human being, she slumped down onto the floor, still clinging to the toilet, hoping to stop the world from spinning.

Her heart was pounding as she tried not to panic. Maybe he didn’t realize how drunk she was? Maybe she’d been making perfect sense all night? Maybe she’d even initiated it? Or maybe she’d passed out and he just went for it.

No. He wouldn’t do that, right?

Tony hadn’t been drunk though. In fact, he’d been drinking soda all night for some reason. He’d been stone cold sober.

She began to tremble a bit as all the possible scenarios ran through her head. None of them were good. She’d slept with Tony fucking Stark. Had he worn a condom? She was on birth control, but she’d seen the girls, and even the occasional guy, he brought home. He never went to the doctor. When was the last time he had a battery of STD tests? And even if he wasn’t riddled with disease, he’d still had sex with her while she had no idea it was happening.

She felt sick again. She was going to have to quit.

And of course, Tony was gone. He’d probably slipped out and down to his workshop to wait for his latest conquest to be escorted off the premises, forgetting that his latest conquest was the one who usually did the escorting. On a normal “taking out the trash” morning, Dum-E would’ve already had her clothes cleaned and pressed and Happy would be out front with the engine running.

Pepper, it seemed, was on her own this morning.

She pulled herself up and over to Tony’s closet – if you could call it that, it was almost as big as her apartment – and yanked on a pair of his sweatpants and a long-sleeved plaid shirt. She collected her clothes and set off to find her shoes, purse, and cell phone. Luckily her car was here so she wouldn’t have to call Happy. 

The shoes were on the stairs, but the purse was proving harder to find. She could probably ask JARVIS to ping her phone or something, she thought, as she walked into the kitchen.

“Morning, champ! How ya feeling?”

Pepper jumped, dropping everything that she was holding.

Tony laughed. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“What the hell are you doing up here?”

“I am whipping up a batch of the world-famous Carbonell Cure-All, the only hangover cure you’ll ever need. I was going to send Dum-E upstairs with it, but since you’re here…”  He said, walking over and holding out a glass with a lumpy, brown liquid in it. The warm smile on his face made her snap.

“You’re awfully chipper for someone who just fucked their blackout drunk PA. Don’t worry though, I won’t be filing a lawsuit.”

“I – what?”

“I suppose it was inevitable, but I really wish you would’ve had the decency to make a pass while I was, well, conscious, so that I could’ve stopped it.” Pepper had had no intention of confronting him like this, but well, here we are.

“You don’t remember last night?”

“No, but I saw the aftermath so I filled in the blanks. Once I find my purse I’m out of here.” She spat, turning to walk back towards the front of the house. Tony quickly followed after her.

“Whoa whoa whoa, Pep!” He reached out and grabbed her shoulder to slow her down.

“Don’t touch me!” She raised her voice, turning and swatting his hand away.

Tony stopped, held his hands up, and spoke quietly. “Nothing happened last night between you and me.”

“Bullshit, I woke up in your bed.”

“Yeah, because that’s where you passed out. I slept in the blue room.”

Pepper paused for a moment. “Really?”

“Yes, Jesus, Pepper…you could barely stand last night, I know I’m an asshole sometimes, but I would _never_...you know…take advantage…of that or of you or of anyone.”

“Nothing happened?”

“Nothing. I promise.”

“If nothing happened, then why were my clothes all over the place?”

“You said you were hot.”

Pepper sighed and began rubbing her eyes. Did she believe him? In the 8 years she’d been working for Stark Industries, he’d never really made a pass at her. She’d had to issue a few “Eyes up, Stark” warnings after opting for something a bit low-cut, and there was certainly a lot of playful flirting, but that was it. And she enjoyed the flirting. It was fun and harmless. Right? Maybe it wasn’t harmless, maybe she should’ve put a stop to it.

She took a step back and sat down at the bottom of the staircase behind her, hugging her knees to her chest before finally looking back up at Tony, who hadn’t moved. He looked confused and concerned. “Can you just – I believe you – but can you just…just tell me what happened?”

**

_7 hours earlier._

“I haven’t had tequila in SO long!” Pepper laughed as she stumbled through Tony’s front door. He thought for a moment. She’d ordered the occasional margarita over the years, but vodka was generally her booze of choice. He’d never seen her do a shot of anything before though, let alone – 6? 8? Not to mention the guzzling straight from the bottle that just occurred in the car.

She and Emmy, from the London office, usually went on a bit of a tear when they got together and after a long week of contract negotiations and seemingly endless board meetings, he was glad to see her let down her hair a bit.

He, on the other hand, hadn’t touched a drop of booze all night. “ _Wow, I guess there’s a first time for everything!”_ Pepper had yelled at him, downing her 4th shot as he returned from the bar with a coke.

He wasn’t mad though. Their roles in this situation had been reversed countless times before so he certainly owed her. All he had to do was pour her drunk ass into bed and then give her shit about it in the morning over breakfast. Easy.

“God I’m _hot_.” Pepper said as she stripped off her grey jacket. Tony stopped dead in his tracks and swallowed hard at the sight of her standing there in her white, sleeveless blouse. Her shoulders always drove him a little crazy. There were so many freckles.

As she turned to fling her jacket across the room she stumbled forward. Tony grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in close, keeping her from falling flat on her face.

“Thanks.” She smiled, turning to face him. He was still holding her close as she rested her forehead on his, closing her eyes.

“All right, it is time for you to go to bed.” Tony finally said, breaking away from her.

“My thoughts exactly.” Pepper purred while tugging at his tie, before turning and heading to the stairs.

He followed closely behind her as she pinballed her way up to the second floor, mentally kicking himself for how long he’d held onto that embrace. “I can carry you.” Tony suggested about half way up, switching to full-on caretaker mode.

“No you can’t I’m taller than you! I’ve just gotta take these fucking _shoes_ off.”

“I could totally carry you.” Tony huffed, as one by one her shoes came flying past his head. She sat leaning over for a second, regrouping, before standing back up and continuing her ascent. Once at the top though she stopped and doubled over onto the railing.

“Potts? You all right? You gonna hurl? No shame in that. Your $1000 shoes are out of the splash zone.”

No response. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she jerked her head up. “I’m good, I’m awake.” She slurred, trying to push herself into a standing position. She failed though, and ended up stumbling backwards into Tony, who guided her to the floor, stifling a laugh.

“You sure you don’t want me to carry you? I’ll throw you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.”

“Can you get me some water?” She mumbled.

“Sure. Hang tight.”

When he returned a few minutes later with a bottle of water and some aspirin, she was gone. “Pepper?” He called out. Nothing. “Pepparoo? Where are you?” That time a heard a thud. He turned to his bedroom door and sighed. Inside he discovered Pepper on the floor wrapped in the throw blanket from the end of his bed. He knelt next to her. “I’ve got your water.”

She pushed herself up. “Thanks.”

“You almost made it to the bed. Come on, just a few more steps.” She dropped the blanket as Tony helped her stand. She was completely naked. “Oh god.” He squeaked out, quickly stripping off his jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders, trying not to look. “Where are your clothes?”

“I was really hot. And then I got really cold.” She stated matter-of-factly as Tony maneuvered her toward his bed. He turned down the blankets and sat her on the edge, still holding his jacket very tightly closed.

“I was only gone for like 2 minutes. Just stay put for a second.” He said before turning away and disappearing into his closet. She swayed a bit on the edge of the bed with her head down. He returned and slipped a t-shirt over her head, carefully guiding her arms into the holes and gently pulling his jacket away.

She reached up and started pulling his tie off of him. “Come to bed with me, please.”

“Absolutely not, Ms. Potts.” He smiled, tapping her on the nose with his finger. “Lay down.”

She sighed and threw the crumpled tie onto the ground. She was out before her head hit the pillow.

Tony retrieved the bottle of water and aspirin from the floor and set it on the nightstand. “Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Keep an eye on her. Let me know if she starts puking or something.”

“Will do.”

“I’ll be in the lab for a bit and then probably the blue room for the night.”

“Very good, sir.”

“Lights out.”

**

“You know, Jarvis records everything. I can pull up a vid-“

“No, no that’s not necessary. I believe you.” Pepper said quietly. She was now more embarrassed than anything, and just wanted to change the subject and forget that this whole conversation ever happened. A headache was starting to form. “So, about this famous Cannonball Cure-All?”

Tony stood up and walked to the kitchen. “Carbonell Cure-All, Potts. _Carbonell_.”

“Who or what is a Carbonell?”

“My mother. Her maiden name was Carbonell. It’s Spanish.”

“Your mother had a world-famous hangover cure?”

“Of course she did! Well, at least she always said it was world-famous. I think that anything that could keep Howard Stark upright and functional for so many years deserves that distinction.” He said, sitting back down and handing her the glass. “Did you know that she was the first female computer engineer at Stark Industries?”

Pepper smiled. “I did know that.”

“We need more of those at SI. Female computer engineers.”

“I agree.”

“We must be able to, I don’t know, scholarships or something?”

“I’ll put something together.”

“Good. Drink up.”

Pepper looked at the glass and frowned. “Why is it lumpy?”

“Capers. It works, I promise.”

She reluctantly took a gulp and to her surprise it wasn’t horrible, just weird. Tony was staring at her intently, with a little smile on his face. “I’m sorry, by the way, about all of this.”

“Not a problem, I can’t even begin to fathom some of the shit you’ve had to deal with when I was drunk.”

“It’s not that – I’m sorry for not believing, assuming… _accusing_ you of –“

“Oh, right, God, don’t apologize for that. I should’ve, I don’t know, picked up before I left. And maybe given Jarvis a message for you or something. I realize how _not great_ that was to wake up to.”

“I overreacted. I shouldn’t have. It just wouldn’t have been the first time that happ– “ She stopped, mortified that she’d said that out loud. Suddenly, her mind was flooded with memories of that night. She could feel Tony tense next to her as he stood up.

_“What?”_

“N-nothing.”

“Give me his name.”

“Forget it.”

“Give me his name, Pepper, and I will fucking end him.”

“Tony.”

_“Pepper.”_

“It was a long time ago, it doesn’t matter anymore. And you, I don’t know, putting out a hit on him or something isn’t going to change anything.” She dropped her head and began running her fingers through her hair, wishing she could crawl under a rock.

“Bullshit.” Tony said, quietly as he sat back down next to her. “Give me his name.”

“It was like 10 years ago, Tony. At school. And it wasn’t that big of a deal.” Her voice wobbled a bit. She’d never told anybody about it before, and she hadn’t really intended to, but the flood gates just sort of opened. Her heart was pounding.

“We were in a bunch of classes together - both economics majors. He asked me out a few times and I turned him down. One time he got kind of…hyper about it. Punched a wall. A few weeks later I ran into him at a party and he apologized, and we talked for a bit and he got me a drink. Which I shouldn’t have taken. It was stupid. I shouldn’t have taken it, that’s the first thing they teach you at orientation. _Don’t take drinks from guys._ The next thing I remember was waking up - coming to? I don’t know but he was…on top of me. And I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to tell him to stop or push him off because I remembered him punching that wall and that scared me so I just…did nothing and then he was done and he left and that was it. We still had a lot of classes together though. Which wasn’t ideal. But. Yeah. That’s what happened. It was a long time ago.” Pepper tried desperately to look at anything but Tony, knowing that she might lose it if they actually made eye contact.

Tony’s blood was boiling, but he managed to remain cool and pointed on the surface. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I shouldn’t have taken the drink.”

“He shouldn’t have given it to you.”

“Yeah, well, he did!” Pepper stood up and began pacing.  “And I took it. And it happened, and it’s fi – I mean, it’s not fine. It’s pretty far from fine I guess but, God, I don’t know. Just forget about it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

He took a deep breath. “Pep – I don’t. I’m sorry that happened to you. Jesus Christ, I wish I could do something.”

“I know. And I appreciate that, but you can’t. And I really am fine. This morning just brought up some bad shit, but it’s ok. I’m ok. I don’t want to talk about it anymore, all right?” She said turning and heading to the kitchen. Tony followed, feeling like he’d been sucker punched.

Pepper placed her empty glass on the counter after taking one big final gulp on the walk back. She really was fine at the moment, just tired.

“Can I at least like, give you a hug or something? I give really good hugs. I promise. I don’t give them often, because, you know, that whole fear of intimacy thing, but I think I should give you a hug.” He said holding out his arms and putting on his best puppy-dog eyes.

Pepper rolled her eyes and smiled. A hug did actually sound pretty good right now. She hesitated for a moment before stepping forward into his arms.

It was a damn good hug. She felt so utterly safe and protected in that moment. When they finally broke apart, they stood in silence, neither one sure of what to do or say next.

“Um,” Pepper started, biting her lip. “Just so you know, you’re never getting any of these clothes back. They are very comfortable.”

Tony laughed. “You can keep everything but the t-shirt, Potts.”

“No way, the t-shirt is the best part.”

“Yeah, I know, which is why you can’t have it. You ever been to OzzFest? It’s awesome. We should go.”

“No and no.”

“More of a Coachella girl?”

“Something like that.” Pepper sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her head. “Look, I am going to go lay down for a bit. I’m going back to my actual room though.”

“Suit yourself, mi casa es su casa. If you need anything ask J.” He wished he could offer more, but giving her some space seemed like the best option at this point.

Pepper turned to leave and then stopped. “Tony…”

“I swear to god, Pep, if you try to apologize one more time you don’t get to keep the flannel.”

She did want to apologize again though. And tell him that she’d never told anyone else about that night, even though she sometimes woke up drenched in sweat after dreaming about it. She also just wanted him to forget about it, though she knew that wouldn’t happen. “Just…thanks. Again.”

“You’re welcome. You can keep the flannel.”

“And the sweats.” She smiled, before continuing back to the stairs, contemplating how to best smuggle the t-shirt out of the house without sending Jarvis into a full-on security lockdown.


End file.
